National and International News Roundup - 02 August 2019

Mother and relatives of Chris Anu abducted.
Priest released in Kumbo after over 24 hours in Captivity.
Fear grows as the identification of IDPs starts at Yaounde II.
Gungong village attacked.

1 Military men in Bamenda have issued threats to burn down Gungong village if amba fighters continue to stand in the area. Gungong is along Bali/Batibo road in the North West of Cameroon. Residents say at least seven houses were ransacked, money stolen and good looted when the military invaded the locality yesterday. Some men were severely beaten.

2 Father Peter Foleng of the diocese of Kumbo has been release. A source has mentioned that the priest was kidnapped early this week under unclear circumstances and taken to an unknown destination. The kidnapping of servants of God especially those of the Catholic Church have become recurrent in the North West of Cameroon.

3 There have been controversial versions why Cameroon born international basketball player Pascal Siakam failed to arrive Douala Cameroon yesterday as earlier announced. A source has hinted that Siakam’s family and his basketball club Raptors of Toronto decided that Pascal Siakam will arrive Cameroon discretely because of security reasons.

4 Ambazonia activists abroad have been accusing the government of Cameroon of abducting the mother, sister and other relatives of Chris Anu; a prominent Ambazonia activist. They are challenging the government to face the activists and allow their relatives free. Chris Anu in a message this evening says the abduction of his family members will not stop him from fighting for Ambazonia statehood.

5 There is fear and uncertainty in the minds of internally displaced persons living in the nation’s political capital Yaounde. This follows the identification process of all internally displaced persons due to the Anglophone crisis at Yaounde II municipality by traditional rulers. The program was launched last week by the divisional officer of the sub-division.

6 A civil society group in Cameroon called Dynamic Citoyene has called on the government to champion the return of peace in Cameroon in the course of a devastating political crisis. The leader of the group Jean-Marc Bikoko accuse members of the government of handling affairs in Cameroon as though they were not Cameroonians.

7 Bilateral relations between Cameroon and France have been reviewed by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and France new ambassador to Cameroon Christophe Gulhou. France this week mentioned that the crisis in Cameroon needs a political solution and not force. That is the first visit of the ambassador to the star building after resuming office recently.

8 Keys of low-cost houses constructed by the government of Cameroon at the Mbanga Bakoko have been handed to first tenants. A ceremony to that effect took place in Douala today presided by the minister of housing and urban development. Critics say most of the buildings are being rented by well to do people in the society instead of low-income earners.

International Roundup

1 A Ugandan academic who once called President Yoweri Museveni a “pair of buttocks” has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Activists condemned the jailing of Stella Nyanzi for cyber harassment, saying it undermined Uganda’s commitment to freedom of expression. She attended Friday’s sentencing via video link, against her, will, and exposed her breasts in protest.

2 People have been trapped in their cars and several parts of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, are completely underwater following heavy rain. Freight containers in the main port have also been washed away by floodwaters. Residents in informal settlements in the capital have been worst hit.

3 Hundreds of Catholic priests have protested against the killing on Thursday of their colleague in Enugu, the capital of Enugu state in south-east Nigeria. Reverend Paul Offu was killed by unknown gunmen along the Ihe-Agbudu road, as he returned from visiting another priest, Rev Benjamin Achi, according to the spokesperson of the Enugu Catholic Diocese.